Xander Bogaerts said back in June he was going to be paying close attention to what this class of free agent shortstops would be making. Well, after Friday night, we're almost all the way through the list.
Carlos Correa became the latest incredibly well-paid shortstop, agreeing to a three-year, $105.3 million deal with the Twins that carries opt-outs after the first two seasons.
That leaves Trevor Story as the last name left which Bogaerts was most likely keeping an eye as the Red Sox shortstop plans for his future beyond 2022.
"I mean, I guess it’s what he wanted. In the end he signed it. That’s what he signed. He deserves it," Bogaerts said. "He’s been an excellent player throughout his career since he came up. He’s been injured a couple times but when he’s been on the field he’s definitely one of the best players in the game."
Correa now owns the highest AAV of any shortstop (and fourth overall in Major League Baseball) at $35.1 million per season. Second is Francisco Lindor of the Mets $34.1 million, with the Rangers' Corey Seager coming in next at $32.5 million. Bogaerts and Javy Baez (Tigers) each average $20 million a season.
With another solid season, Bogaerts will most likely opt-out of his current deal after the 2022 season. He would enter a free agent market with Trea Turner and potentially Correa as the shortstops vying for the biggest money.
"I don’t know man there’s a long way to go," Bogaerts said. "I’m here. Excited for this year. We have a couple more weeks of spring training. Hopefully we add some people. Right now the squad is good. Trying to get healthy. Get everyone healthy. We’ll see what happens down the road but right now just focused on getting ready for the season."
He added, "You don’t want to look at yourself in a bad way. You don’t want to be the last one in the pack. Obviously you put yourself up there with some of those shortstops. I’m a fan of pretty much most of them. Pretty much all of them are good players."
When asked about his shortstop Saturday morning, Red Sox manager Alex Cora was optimistic that Bogaerts was ready to take another step forward.
"He’s so consistent in what he does," Cora said. "He prepares. He goes about his business. He worked on a few things in the offseason we talked about in November and you can see it on the field. He is still a beast. He is still really, really good.
"I believe that this year it’s a little bit louder because of the class that just got signed. The only thing you can control is to go out there and perform and he has been doing that for a while."